June 9, 1955

Transcribed by Timothy R. Meador, Jr.

*
CALíS COLUMN *

In our recent record of the Hays family of Smith
County, we reported that we did not have time or space for the report on the
family for the year 1840, as given in the Smith County census or that year. It
is as follows: Archibald Haise, one male from 30 to 40 years of age, himself,
we are sure; and one female between 15 and 20.†
Near neighbors of this family in 1840 were: Rufus Hanes, J. C. Williams,
Alexander Casada, William Franklin, Richard Parkes, Edward Draper and Elizabeth
West. From the neighbors, we would judge that the family lived 155 years ago on
the lower end of Defeated Creek.

††††††† Nancy Haise lived in Smith County in the
year 1840. She appears to have been a widow. In her family were: Two males from
five to 10, and two from 10 to 15.†
Females: One under five, one from 30 to 40 and one from 40 to 50, we
would judge to have been Nancy. Near neighbors were: Turner Harris, D. C.
McDowell, Edward Mitchell, David Smith, Mary McEntire, and Daniel Dillard. We
are not positive as to where these live more than a hundred years ago, but
believed they lived in the Chestnut Mound section of Smith County.

††††††† Francis Hase lived in Smith County in
the census above referred to. He had: One male under five, and one from 20 to
30 years old, himself, we suppose. Females: One from 15 to 20, and one from 20
to 30. Near neighbors were: Ezekiel West, Stephen Hanes, William Dyer, John
Reece, Josiah Reece and Chloman Mathas.†
We would judge that this Hays family lived on lower Defeated Creek,
which was a few miles southeast of the boyhood home of the writer.

††††††† Robert Hayes was another head of a
family in Smith County 115 years ago. In his family were: One male 40 to 50,
one female from 15 to 20 and one female 40 to 50 years of age, who appears to
have been a pensioner, but we do not know from what war. Near neighbors
were:† P. Coggins, E. Warren, Robert S.
Betty, Willis Coggins, William Exum and Joe Exum. We have but little way of
knowing in what section of Smith County, this family resided.

††††††† Reuben Hase appears to have been an old
man in Smith County in the year 1840 and is listed as being between 70 and 80
years of age. However, there was a male between 10 and 15, and another between
15 and 20. There were females: Two form 20 to 30 and one from 60 to 70,
supposedly Mrs. Reuben Hase.† Living
next door to Reuben Hase was Reuben L. Hase, supposed to have been the son of
the Reuben Hase, first named above. He had: One male under five and one from 20
to 30, supposedly Reuben L. Hase: and two females, one from 10 to 15, and one
form 20 to 30, supposedly Mrs. Reuben L. Hase. Their neighbors were: James
Barnett, Samuel H. Wilson, Martha Crawford, Wilis Gibbs, William Lechford
(Litchford?), Henry Williams and John Enicks (Enoch?). The general location of
these two families appears to have been to the southwest of the present
Carthage, approximately between the present Rock City and New Middleton. This
is the last member of the family of Hays, given as in its various spellings in
the census of 1840 in Smith County, Tenn.

††††††† There is not one member of the family of
Hays or Hayes or other spelling of the name listed in the Smith County census
for 1870, which indicates that they had removed form the county some time
between 1850 and 1870.

††††††† We have a lot of other information about
the members of the Hayes family in its various spellings. We find that on Dec.
15, 1837, Joseph Con married Deliton Hay in Knox County, Tenn. In the same
county on June 24, 1840, Benjamin Hay married Huldy Tidwell.

††††††† Jane Hayes was born March 22, 1772, in
Virginia and married Henry Shannon. She died in Wilson County, Tenn., on Dec.
10, 1832 and is buried in the Reland (Roland?) graveyard on Wool Factory Road.
Jane Hayes Shannon had a daughter, Mary Hayes Shannon, born Nov. 20, 1794. She
married her cousin, James Shannon, on Dec. 31, 1816 and was the mother of:

††††††† Lucinda Hayes Shannon, born Aug. 13,
1817; died June 25, 1864; married as second wife of Byrd Moore. Sarah Emily
Shannon, born Dec. 6, 1819; died Sept. 25, 1887; married 1835 or 1836, James
Madison Swain, born June 6, 1812; died Sept. 24, 1865; issue, three sons, five
daughters.

††††††† Ezekiel Holoway, born Feb. 10, 1803,
married March 24, 1825, to Jane Shannon, daughter of Henry Shannon and wife,
Jane Hayes. George W. Hayes married Emma Clare Moore, daughter of Wooten and
Katie Moore, in Columbia, Tenn. Theophilus Hays married Polly Morgan in Knox
County, Tenn., supposedly on Sept. 16, 1794. Martin Hayes married Sallie
January in Knox County, Tenn., on April 24, 1812. Alexander Hayes married
Catherine McNutt in Knox County, Tenn., on Sept. 16, 1814. John Hayes married
Susan McCaslin in Dickson County, Tenn., on Dec. 30, 1843. In Aug. 1846, in the
same county, James B. Hayes married Malinda Gunn.

††††††† Next we note a change in spelling, the
next group spelling the name Hays. Thomas Hays married Miss Virginia E.
Boulware on Jan. 1, 1856, in Richmond, Virginia, with Rev. Robert Boyte C.
Howell, a Baptist minister, officiating.

††††††† Facts obtained from the family Bible of
John Hays. Bible now in possession of Mrs. Frieda Hays Pate, who lives at 1043
W. Greenwood Ave., Nashville, Tenn. Sent by Anne Carver Graves, Nashville.

††††††† Robert Hays, father of John Hays, born
Nov. 11, 1800, died Jul 26, 1870; married Mathursy Wilson, Dec. 27, 1827, by
William Saunders.

††††††† Methursy Wilson, born May 5, 1805, died
June 6, 1872.

††††††† Henry Hays, father of Robert Hays, who
died in 1812; married Nancy Pute in Virginia.

††††††† William Wilson, father of Mathursy
Wilson, married Elizabeth Craven, Aug. 17, 1803.

††††††† The children of Robert Mathursy were:
Anderson Hays, born Dec. 20, 1841; Mary Jane Hays, born Nov. 16, 1837; Martha
Hays, born 1843; John Hays, born Feb. 17, 1845, died May 27, 1920.

††††††† George Melvin, father of Mahala Melvin,
born Oct. 1, 1828, died April 11, 1863; married Hess Obryant, Feb. 5, 1846.

††††††† David Chandler and Elizabeth C. Hays
were married on March 2, 1843 by Rev. John Beard, the same minister officiated
in the marriage of Mary Hays on Feb. 18, 1849 to Carson D. Boren.

††††††† John R. Buchanan married Nancy E. Hays
on Oct. 31, 1848, but we do not know where. Elizabeth Cage, a descendant of
Major William Cage who was born in Virginia in 1745, married Harman Hayes and
they became the parents of the celebrated Col. Jack Hays, of the Texas Rangers.
On June 25, 1844, in Dickson County, Tenn., James Reynolds married Lucy R.
Hays.

††††††† On Feb. 18, 1806, in Wilson County,
Tenn., which lies some 35 miles to the southwest of our own county of Macon and
about half that far from Carthage in Smith County, Julius Alford married Ann
Hays, with Harmon Hays going on the bond. Could this have been the Harman Hays,
the father of Co. Jack Hays, referred to in the preceding paragraph? On Aug. 4,
the same year, Andrew Hays married Susannah Enoch, the same name given above as
one of the neighbors of a Hays family. Campbell Hays was surety on Andrewís
bond. On Oct. 1, 1810 in Wilson County, Tenn., Isham F. Davis married Rachel S.
Hays.

††††††† On Oct. 5, 1812 in the same county,
Joseph Hays married Susannah Adams. John Hays was surety on Josephís bond. On
July 25, 1812, John Hays married Betsey Estes, with Samuel Hays as Johnís
bondsman. On Dec. 17, 1816 in Wilson County, Tenn., William Hays married Jenny
Adams, with James Madon performing the ceremony.

††††††† On Dec. 15, 1824, in the same county,
James Hays married Polly Thomas, with Thomas Orrin as surety on James Haysí
bond. On Aug. 1, 1825 in Wilson County, Thomas Lewis married Elizabeth Hays.
James A. Strong was surety on the marriage bond. On Dec. 16, 1827, James Hays
married Sally Night (Knight?). On Aug. 14, 1827, in the same county, Preston
Hays married Ann Searcy, with Hugh Hays as surety on Prestonís bond.

††††††† Col. A. E. Garrett, formerly of Carthage,
Tenn., lost his first wife in 1870. In 1871 he married Mrs. Addie McDonald, who
previous to her first marriage was Miss Addie Hayes, the daughter of Addison
Hayes, once a resident of Nashville.

(To be continued)

____________________

This
Article Appeared In The Times

But
Was Not Actually Titled Calís Column

MACONíS
OLDEST CITIZEN, NICK SIMONS, 107, DIES

††††††† Macon
Countyís oldest surviving citizen, Nick Simons, died at the home of a sister,
Mrs. Annie Suddarth, near Gallatin, Tuesday. He was 107 years of age.

††††††† Mr. Simons,
until recently when he became ill, lived alone on his 94-acre farm near Siloam,
in the west end of this county. He did his own housekeeping and cooking and
farmed some, even in his last years.

††††††† Mr. Simons was the subject of a feature
article in this newspaper in April of last year, and at that time was very
active despite his advanced years. He talked very sensibly and his hearing was
but little impaired.

††††††† Born December 8, 1847, in Madison,
Indiana, of German immigrants, the little, gray-bearded man came to Tennessee
at the age of four. He was first married at the age of 19, and shortly after
that started work at Gallatin. Later he worked in Nashville before opening a
small stor Jeear Siloam.

††††††† Of sixteen children born to Mr. Simons,
only a son and two granddaughters survive. They are: Mrs. Annie Suddarth, of
Gallatin, Mrs. Julia Binkley, of Nashville, and Hubert Simons, of Westmoreland.
In addition, 40 grandchildren and 51 great-grandchildren survive.

††††††† Funeral services were conducted at 1
p.m., Wednesday, from New Hope Baptist church, with the Rev. Floyd Lambert
officiating. Burial was made in the New Hope Cemetery.